TEMPE — The Arizona Cardinals got a big boost Monday in the return of rookie defensive lineman Darius Robinson to the practice fields.
Arizona Cardinals rookie DL Darius Robinson back at it.
Did not see veteran safety Jalen Thompson during the open portion. #AZCardinals pic.twitter.com/5cp4RZVX9g
— Tyler Drake (@Tdrake4sports) November 18, 2024
It’s been a long time coming for the rookie. He was designated to return off injured reserve back on Oct. 9 from a calf injury only for him to practice one time in a limited fashion before Monday after losing his mother during the rehab process.
As Arizona’s week of practice kicks off, it’s still very much up in the air as to whether Robinson will make his NFL debut Sunday or not.
Even if he does play, what does that look like? 10 snaps? 15?
Regardless if Robinson plays or not, his return to practice at the very least is a step in the right direction. And whenever he is active on game day, the rookie should provide a boost to a defense ranked 31st in pass-rush win rate (28%), according to ESPN. Even on its current three-game streak of not allowing a touchdown at home, there’s still plenty to clean up.
There’s no doubt having Robinson back in the mix provided even more optimism to the franchise after a week of recharging.
“It’ll be good to get him out there,” head coach Jonathan Gannon said Monday. “He’s had a tough road and a tough injury. He’s working his tail off to get back out there. He wants to get back out there. He had a good week last week. … We’ll take it one day at a time.”
Gannon added that Robinson did not have an “off week” during the bye.
“If he’s out there, we feel good about him being out there,” he said.
The No. 27 overall pick isn’t the only reason the Cardinals and their fans should be grinning as play resumes in Arizona.
Arizona’s young guns shaping into form
Robinson isn’t the only Cardinals youngster on the up and up ahead of Round 1 with the Seattle Seahawks.
This season, a number of second-year pros have really found their groove and cemented their place as main contributors.
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Two names that jump off the page are left tackle Paris Johnson Jr. and cornerback Garrett Williams thanks to the stability they’re bringing to their respective rooms. Johnson is already looking like the cornerstone many envisioned him being, while Williams is trending toward CB1 territory given his versatility and football IQ. You just know what you’re going to get out of those two on a day-to-day basis.
Their efforts don’t overshadow the impact running back Emari Demercado, defensive lineman Dante Stills, cornerback Starling Thomas V, wide receiver Michael Wilson and tight end Elijah Higgins have had on Arizona’s successes in 2024, either.
Kicker Chad Ryland, who wasn’t with Arizona last year, also gets a nod after coming aboard midseason for the injured Matt Prater.
But the youth movement doesn’t stop there. As we saw last year with a lot of the names mentioned above, Arizona’s most recent rookie class is already pulling its weight.
Beyond of a little more consistency on a weekly basis, rookie wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. has mostly lived up to his WR1 billing. Cornerback Max Melton is getting more and more comfortable after getting thrown into the starting mix with Sean Murphy-Bunting injured. Same goes for safety Dadrion Taylor-Demerson — better known as Rabbit.
Don’t forget about Tip Reiman and Isaiah Adams, either. The pair of Fighting Illini have provided boosts in the run game.
After struggling to find his footing early on, rookie running back Trey Benson is becoming much more of a threat in Arizona’s backfield. Nearly half of his 213 rushing yards (99) and almost all of his 55 receiving yards (43) have come in the past two weeks.
Not only does this latest development give one of the NFL’s best running attacks another option, it also limits the wear and tear on starter James Conner.
With the Cardinals firmly in the playoff discussion as of Monday, that could be huge with extra games potentially heading Arizona’s way.
K1
This section speaks for itself. Quarterback Kyler Murray is playing some of the best football we’ve seen since he came to town in 2019.
There are a lot of factors at play here, beginning with the coaching staff’s philosophy, trust in offensive coordinator Drew Petzing and quarterbacks coach Israel Woolfork and having the right mix of like-minded players focused on one thing: Winning.
But when it comes down to it, Murray has to put the ball where it needs to go, whether it be in the air or on the ground.
He’s done that behind 2,058 passing yards and 12 touchdowns to three interceptions on a 69.2% completion percentage to go along with 371 rushing yards and four scores on 46 carries.
Murray’s play warrants MVP consideration and it should come as no surprise that he currently sports the seventh best odds, according to FanDuel Sportsbook (+3400).
The best part for this Murray-led Cardinals offense? There haven’t been any signs of him slowing down any time soon.
“Confidence is contagious,” Wilson said on Monday. “Playmaking is contagious as well. When Kyler’s playing like how he has been playing, I think it’s so hard to stop our offense, because not only can he make up for a lot of bad play, but he also elevates all of us and throws us balls that maybe other quarterbacks wouldn’t throw.
“When he’s playing like that, I don’t see another quarterback playing better than him. He has every trait. … We have a chance to beat anybody when he’s playing that well. I think if he continues to play that well, we have a chance to do what we did last Sunday, which is make it not even a game when he’s playing exceptional.”
The Cardinals’ road ahead
Arizona did what it needed to do early on this year:
Stay afloat.
Despite the murderer’s row of legit signal callers and playoff contenders across the first six weeks of the season, the Cardinals hung in at 2-4 before rattling off their current four-game win streak to get to 6-4.
They’ve taken advantage of the “lighter” schedule as of late and it could very well continue the rest of the way.
Fresh off the bye, the Cardinals now have a pair of divisional games against the Seahawks sandwiching a Week 13 tilt versus Minnesota (8-2).
After nearly being written off as recently as Week 10, Seattle (5-5) finds itself right in the thick of things divisionally after upsetting San Francisco (5-5) on Sunday.
But with two chances in three weeks, the Cardinals can really stick a fork in a Seattle team that has failed to find consistency since Week 3.
What better way to set up a pair of should-win games against New England (3-8) and Carolina (3-8) than by basically eliminating a divisional opponent from the NFC West title race?
Meanwhile, the Los Angeles Rams (5-5) and 49ers during that three-week span have games against playoff contenders like Buffalo, Philadelphia and Green Bay on top of their own head-to-head tilt in Week 15.
By the time Weeks 17 and 18 roll around — Arizona’s final divisional games against L.A. and San Francisco, respectively — there’s a real possibility the dust could already be settled on the division title if the Cardinals can play up to their first-half-of-the-season showing.